Chapter 151 Stop

Chapter 151 Stop
Lana’s Point of View

“Are you okay, Liz?” He asked the question softly, and I found myself staring into his intense blue eyes. For a moment, I couldn't look away, I was trapped by those enchanting eyes.

I didn’t expect him to stand up for me like that, and he knew all the right things to say, things that were completely unlike the arrogant spoilt rich brat that I knew.

And he was frightening, aggressive.

Lately, he'd been acting strangely compared to what I remembered, and I had convinced myself it was because of his injury. Maybe the pain was getting to him. Maybe being forced to stay in the resort had made him more irritable.

He took a step toward me and lifted his hand, as though he wanted to touch me. I immediately stepped back, my hands came up between us instinctively, stopping him before he could make contact.

He froze, his eyes dropped to my hands before slowly returning to my face. For a second, something painful flickered across his expression.

Then he lowered his hand and stepped back.

“I just wanted to make sure you're okay,” he said quietly. “I'm sorry about James. He's an asshole.”

“Thank you for helping me.” My voice came out softer than I intended, I glanced around the room, and suddenly I didn’t like the idea of being alone with him.

“I think I should clean this up and go home. It's getting late, and my dad is waiting for me.”

“Elizabeth, wait.” I stopped, but I didn't turn around immediately.

“Can I just talk to you for five minutes?”

“No.” I finally looked over my shoulder.

“I promise I'm not going to take much of your time.” He sounded almost desperate.

“It's getting late,” My voice came out sharp.

“I know, but please.” His voice dropped, as he took another step forward. “Lana, please.”

My heart clenched at the name.

“I told you not to call me Lana anymore.” His expression fell. “Don't think that because you helped me tonight, you suddenly have the right to make me talk to you.”

“I know.” He swallowed. “I know I don't.”

“Then stop.”

“I’m not trying to play smart,” he finally said, then his voice dropped to a whisper, and his eyes flickered to the floor. “I miss you.”

Something inside me tightened, I took another step backward.

Five years of forcing myself to live without him. Five years of convincing myself that whatever we had was dead and buried. And now he was standing in front of me, looking at me as though my resolve meant nothing.

As though he could simply say I miss you and somehow make me forget everything that happened.

“You don't get to miss me now,” I whispered. “You lost that right five years ago.”

“I could compare my pain to yours,” Christian said quietly. “But that would be stupid. It would mean I was trying to invalidate everything you went through.”

He paused. “But at the same time, don't you think it's unfair to invalidate my pain simply because you think my life was easier?”

I let out a bitter laugh.

At first, I had planned to ignore him.

I was going to walk away, go home, and pretend this conversation had never happened. But something about those words made my stomach twist with anger.

“Oh, so now you're going to stand here and tell me about the pain you suffered?” I turned toward him. “While you were being spoiled?”

My voice cracked. “While you were living the perfect life as the rich kid whose father could give him everything?”

Christian flinched. “I owe you everything, I know, but how do I even give you back when you don’t want to talk to me?”

“No, you owe me nothing. I should have known from the beginning,” I continued, refusing to let him interrupt me. “The moment you both lied to me about being brothers.”

He went silent. “So, did you and your brother lie about everything else too?” His answer came immediately.

“We never lied to you, Lana. We just didn't tell you about our relationship because we didn't want anyone to know about our relationship.”

“Anyone?” I repeated. “I guess that is all that I am to you, just anyone.”

“Lana, please.” He begged, nearing me, and this time around I didn’t run away. I stood my ground.

“When you approached me, wasn't it because you wanted information about Xavier?” He said nothing. “The reason you got close to me, is because you wanted to use me.”
“I fell in love with you.” He held my hands, my heart jumped at the warmth in his palms. “Lana, I swear to you, this is all a misunderstanding.”

“You're disgusting.” I shoved him away. “And I curse the day I met you, and the day I foolishly fell in love with you.”

His expression changed.

“Please don’t say that.” I was about to leave, when he grabbed me, he fell to his knees, holding my thighs together. “Please say everything, but don’t say that you hate me.”

I tried to shove him off, but he didn’t let me, tears streamed down his face, soaking through my clothes.

And I became helpless, because no matter how grown I am now, I still didn’t know how to react to a grown man crying.

I stood there helplessly, and then his face lifted, his blue eyes narrowed at me, and all I could see was the color and how much I hated it.

“Doing this won’t change my mind, so please, stop crying,” I begged.

“Can’t you just listen to me, please, without any bias, I promise to explain every single thing.”

My fingers tightened by my side.

“I can’t even look at the sky because of you, because anytime I see the blue I remember just how much I hate you.” My eyes burned. “And then I hate myself because how the hell did I even fall for you in the first place.”

A tear slipped down my cheek, but I wiped it away angrily.

“You ruined something that used to be beautiful to me.” Christian remained completely still, his chin pressed against my thighs. “I hate that you still have the power to hurt me.”

My voice broke.

“You got what you wanted, didn't you?” He frowned, shaking his head. “The big life. The sports career. The fame. The perfect future.”

I gestured toward him. “You got to become the star everyone wanted you to be, and I’m left to be the one who was ridiculed. The one who was broken to make you climb the top.” I laughed bitterly.

“So tell me, Christian. What more do you want from me?”

He opened his mouth, but I didn't give him the chance to answer.

“The only reason I'm still working here is because I need the money. I need this job to provide for my family.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I don't want you ruining my life all over again.”

His expression fell. “I will never forgive you for what you did to me.” The words hurt coming out, but I forced myself to say them. “But I can tolerate you if that's what I have to do to survive.”

“No, Lana, I would never hurt you, I care about you…you were the only person who ever accepted me for who I was.” His voice cracked. “You were the only person who didn't look at me with disgust when I showed you who I really was underneath everything.”

My chest tightened.

“Don't.” I tried to step back from him, but his arms around me tightened. “Christian, please, stop.”